Possible homicide near Wise River under investigation

Beaverhead County Sheriff Jay Hansen released a press release on Monday with information regarding a possible homicide near Wise River in Beaverhead County. A body was discovered Saturday and immediately transported to the Montana Crime Lab in Missoula by Beaverhead County Coroner Ron Briggs. The crime lab finished its autopsy on Monday, but as of Tuesday, Hansen still characterized the event as a “possible homicide.”

“At this time, we are not giving out any information on the manner or cause of death simply for the security of our case,” said Hansen at his office on Tuesday.

The Beaverhead County 911 Center received a call at 12:36 p.m. on Saturday from the Wise River Club placed by two Butte men who were camping in the area and found the deceased in the area west of Wise River known as Bryant Creek.

The deceased is a 60- to 65-year-old male and was found in the willows adjacent to the Bryant Creek Campground.

Hansen says the body has been identified, but he could not release the deceased’s name, age, residency, time of death or any other information specific to the possible victim during a interview.

“Since Saturday, we’ve been working on identifying the family members and we’re not having much luck,” said Hansen. “No relatives have been located and we do not know of anybody that might be a relative.”

Upon arriving on the scene at about 2 p.m. on Saturday, Hansen placed a call to the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, a Department of Justice agency operating under the authority of the Montana Attorney General.

“I called for assistance and they sent three people from around the state and they arrived around 5 p.m. Saturday,” recalled Hansen.

In addition, Sheriff’s Deputy’s Dan Mulkey, Dick Sullivan and Joe Bingen were on hand to help with the investigation. The initial inquiry at the potential crime scene extended to 3 a.m. Sunday morning.

“We did have some evidence that pointed us toward the Butte area,” said Hansen.